Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora called Minnesota the most complete team the Seahawks have faced so far this season. And he said offensively, Seattle didn’t give itself a chance with the defense playing well early on.
“The first quarter defensively we played well,” Mora said. “We needed to get something going on offense to give ourselves a little energy, a little juice to support what the defense was doing, and we weren’t able to do that.”
The Seahawks have now lost six straight on the road dating back to last season, and are 5-16 on the road dating back to the beginning of the 2007 season.
So what gives?
“We’ve tried everything,” Mora said about his team’s struggles on the road. “We went to the blue pants. We’re going to keep searching. We’re not going to throw up our hands and give up. We’re going to keep working and fighting and searching, and we’ll get it done eventually.”
On Seattle’s struggles getting the running game going, which included a franchise-worst four yards on the ground, Mora had this to say:
“They don’t have a weakness on their football team quite frankly,” Mora said. “They’re just good all round. They’re big and they’re physical, and they’re fast. And there’s just a lot of good football players on that football team.
“We just that we could get a block made and spring something, and they didn’t let us. They just didn’t let us.”
Mora said his team has to continue to practice and prepare hard each week in order to break out of a season-long funk, particularly on the road.
“That’s the only thing I know that helps you dig out of one of these things,” Mora said. “And I believe if we do those things, as bad as it seems right now, as awful as we feel right now, because we do feel awful … We’ll get over the hump. But if we don’t do those things then it’s going to be difficult.”
Asked if he felt the team took a step back, Mora had this to say:
“It never feels like a step back to me. You’re always moving forward, it just doesn’t feel like it after the game We’re going to find positives in that game, just like we’re going to find negatives
“This team will continue to fight hard. I don’t question their effort. But effort is not going to be enough. We’re going to need to execute better.”
Some tidbits.
* Seattle’s effort to establish the zone blocking scheme took a huge step back again today. After rushing for 164 yards last week, Seattle rushed for a franchise-worst 4 yards on 13 carries, breaking the franchise mark of 14 yards set earlier this year in the first game against Arizona.
* Seattle finished 1 of 10 on third down conversions on the game, had just 70 yards of offense in the first half and did not cross the 50 yard line in the first half.
* Favre finished 22 of 25 for 213 yards and four touchdown catches for a 141.7 passer rating ,the second highest of his career. Favre’s 88 percent completion percentage was the highest in his career.
* The Seahawks finished with 10 penalties for 64 yards.
* The Vikings held a 42:11 to 17:49 advantage in time of possession.
* Seattle finished with 212 total yards.
* Linebacker David Hawthorne led Seattle again in tackles with 11 solo and 4 assisted for a total of 15. Seattle finished with two sacks, one by Darryl Tapp and Cory Redding. That was Redding’s first sack of the season.
* John Carlson was shut out in his homecoming. The Litchfield, Minn., native did not have a catch and was targeted four times.
* Nate Burleson fared better playing against his former team, finishing with eight catches for 100 yards, including a long of 36 yards on a one-handed catch that set up an Olindo Mare field goal.
* Justin Forsett struggled in the running game, finishing with nine yards on nine carries. But he also added 80 yards of receiving on a catches, and scored the team’s only touchdown on a 1-yard plunge.
“We’ve tried everything,” Mora said about his team’s struggles on the road. “We went to the blue pants.”
This is the quote of the century.
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“It never feels like a step back to me.”
It might feel that way after you’re shown the door, Coach.
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“But effort is not going to be enough. We’re going to need to execute better.”
“And get better players and almost all positions. And fire the offensive coordinator. And say goodbye to the general manager. And replace me.”
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The road woes are easy to explain.
From 2004 to 2007 when the team seemed ok on the road they faced just 9 teams (regular season only) that finished the year with a winning record (9/32). They won just 1 of these games.
In 2008-2009 when it seems the team stinks on the road, they faced 9 teams that finished or will finish the year with a winning record (9/13).
The Seahawks were 1-16 on the road against teams that finished the season with a winning record from 2003-2007 (including playoff games). Now they are 0-9, except they lose by 20 points each time. So basically, they are playing a tougher schedule.
If the 2003-2007 teams faced better road teams, they would have finished several games worse each year than they actually did.
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Same old same old Mora… There’s nothing going for this team. Our offense is terrible, our defense is terrible, our coaching is terrible. What we need is a change. Rebuilding? We have rebuilt, under Ruskell… He has 18 players, 4 players from Holmgren… So we have rebuilt.
I’m not saying to bring Holmgren, I’m saying that we need to change from a finesse team to a tough team. The WCO and Zone/Cover 2 Defense are a dying breed. It has brought us 1 Super Bowl appearance and 4 division titles. Great times, but in order to be a perennial powerhouse we need a Tough defense and a Tough running game with a Smart QB who can IMPROVISE. The NFL has changed… 3-4 defenses was created to disrupt the WCO… It finally has caught up.
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Those quotes stood out to me as well. The blue pants thing infuriates me. They just got done getting their asses handed to them, re-establishing the record for fewest rushing yards in a game for the second time this season, had 1 first down, lost the TOP by almost a half an hour and he finds it in himself to be glib and cute. THAT is straight up inexcusable. Absolutely no excuse. That is B.S..
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The only positive from this game is that they wore the blue pants!! Hate to turn to aesthetics but I cannot stand the white on white. If nothing else, they looked good in their uniforms. I hope they don’t use this beating as an excuse to go back to white.
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“We just that we could get a block made and spring something, and they didn’t let us. They just didn’t let us.” Memo to coach Mora; teams don’t “let” you do anything. In fact they do everything possible to not allow you to do things. You take by force what you want. If you need to make a block, you make it. Period. If you don’t have the personnel to do that, you find someone who can / will.
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Ahh, but mellow Duke, for you see, it wasn’t for a lack of effort.
These hometown hawks are the pride of the Special Olympics, they might not finish first, but they get a big blue ribbon for trying hard.
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Yo Jim, why don’t you start your searching with your coaching staff? Like, maybe your offensive coordinator?
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We were led to believe that you didn’t need as much “talent” for the ZBS offensive line. Hogwash. We have set embarassing franchise lows in rushing yards twice in about a month and a half. I know the Vikings have a dominant front four, but they aren’t holding other teams to 4 yards rushing. Whether we go back to a smash mouth run blocking scheme OR stick with the ZBS for 1 more year — there is 1 constant thing that needs to happen — better players. I know continuity is extremely important, more importan than any other unit on a team, but our “talent” level is too low.
I was in the first row, exactly behind the Seahawks offensive line (didn’t have a great view of the defense in comparision) so that offered a fun view of the unit that I think is most important on any team.
I love Ray Willis. He can be my RT any day. Sure, he’s no Pro Bowler, but I like him. He was the only offensive lineman who seemed to be mad about their performance. There was two instances where he showed emotion (positive emotion, not the garbage you used to see from TO, Chad Johnson, etc.). One was when he came back to the bench and was so mad he punched his hand and hollered something… like he wanted to go back in and knock the head off of some Viking. I loved it (I wish I would have seen more of it).
Sims really seemed to be the leader of the line (mainly before the game started). I liked his fire early on, but it fizzled with the scoreboard. He was mad, but it seemed more of a depressed type of mad (whereas Willis seemed to want to knock off someone’s head).
For the Center position being so important with making calls, I was surprised to see Spencer being almost the most quiet of all the guys when Solari was going over adjustments (I almost watched what Solari was doing about as much as watching our defense). Even when Solari wasn’t coaching and the 5 of them were sitting there side-by-side, Spencer seemed to be the most quiet of the bunch. This only reaffirmed that I’d like to see Unger move to Center. With Spencer and Sims set to hit FA, I’d like to see if Unger can find any continuity with Sims to his left and Spencer to his right. If Unger/Sims can develop a little chemistry, then I’d like to see Sims resigned. Many have also said that Spencer may be better suited for Guard. Well, I’d like to see him next to Unger and playing RG. Spencer is even bigger than I thought he’d be, so maybe he has a future here? I don’t know. But I’d like some film to watch to judge if this is the future of our OL. I hate guessing. I’d rather know if Sims/Unger/Spencer have potential on the interior based on film of the next handful of games. My sense is that someone else will be needed, but lets find out this next few months. That’s where I’m coming from.
I really didn’t see Lock on Allen all that much. I didn’t see Allen too much, but assume Lock must have gotten plenty of help? Any input would be appreciated.
The positives are that I just got home and came to find the Chargers with a big lead over the Broncos. We need all the help we can get at this point.
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Allen got by Lock only a couple times, really. Lock did a nice job, all in all. I didn’t notice many doubles on Allen (Sims helping out) so that’s encouraging. One of the failings of the ZBS (at least with this group) is that while they are trying to move the defenders latterly, the two Williams’ in particular, are just too strong, and were able to fire into the back field, jamming up any rushing lanes. They were able to neutralize some of that in pass pro, however.
Glad you dot to meet Eric. And nice little interview, very cool.
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Game tidbits:
Branch doesn’t want to be here.
Burleson loves life; winning or losing (can’t tell which one he likes more)
I am disappointed in Curry. Hawthorne is clearly the better player. Sad for Curry. Great for Hawthorne.
Yes, the DL is bad (besides Mebane) but nobody in the secondary (meaning safety) can make a play like you would want.
Again, we need a player who can make a play all by himself (playmakers like AP or Percy Harvin don’t grow on trees, but someone like that… CJ Spiller, perhaps?).
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FIRE TIM RUSKELL RIGHT NOW!!!!
How the HELL can you have the 2 FRANCHISE WORST rushing performances in a 5 WEEK SPAN?!?!?!
And where the hell was that stupid Safest pick in the draft of ours?! 1 TACKLE. USELESS!
RUSKELL SHOULD HAVE BEEN DUMPED THE SECOND HUTCH LEFT.
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Yes, overall, Babs had another bad day. And so many missed tackles. Hawthorne and Wilson are the teams only sure tacklers. Curry, sigh… He has been a disappointment. He was blocked clean out of a number of plays today. But then there are those moments where you see the potential. He is really a work in progress.
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The guys on the post game show didn’t hold back. Did anyone else watch?
There was a concensus on the job Ruskell has done so far.
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Who drafts an lb that early anyway.
It’s clear to see why we are the dregs of the NFL and teams like New England and Pitsburgh are perennial champions
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Bobby, I agree. I will echo your comments. Improvement must start on the offensive line. Since Unger is the center of the future, it is time to play him there now. Spencer is NOT a center, and never will be! Give him a shot at right guard. He might be physical enough for that job, and might be better since he could be more instinctive without all the responsibilities of center. I am mystified that they didn’t start this sooner, especially with his thumb injury!
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That’s quite an accomplishment Greg Knapp has here, setting a franchise record for lowest rushing yards in a game not once but twice in a season. Your first season at that. I mean, that’s impressive.
It’s no wonder the head coach is being referred to more and more as Jim Moron. “We went to the blue pants”. Right Jimbo, the color scheme makes all the difference. Frankly, that’s the way it was supposed to be when the new uniforms were introduced, white pants at home blue pants on the road. The all blue and all white suck. Big time. But it has no effect whatsoever on the play of these guys. Heart, desire and most of all talent does, or lack of those things. I saw today, once again, a lack of all three by most of the guys in the white jersies. This has become a 3 ring circus and Tim Ruskell is the ringmaster, with Jim Mora as the head clown. If Paul Allen, aside from his health issues, and more directly Tod Lieweke can’t see this, and see the crying need for a change in the front office (is there a back office??) and the coaching staff, and certainly in the roster, then they don’t deserve to me in the spots they’re in either.
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Posted the following under the wrong thread…my initial reaction to reading No-MOra’s quotes:
Wow…how depressing. Is that really all Mora has to say?! Maybe they should try wearing black pants because research has shown teams with black colors tend to be more intimidating. Really???? Give me a break!
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Hasselbeck is an above average QB playing behind an O line that can’t run block and can’t pass protect.
Carlson is a pro bowl worthy TE who doesn’t have the numbers because he has to stay in to block. Owens is a very good blocking TE.
Housh and Burleson are good WRs. Branch is an overpaid but adequate third WR.
I won’t know how good J Jones, Forsett and Rankin are until I see them play behind an actual NFL O line.
The Hawks O line is a total train wreck.
The D line has some decent roll players (Mebane, Jackson, Tapp) but they need that one superstar tackle or end to make them more effective.
The linebacking crew is above average. They are not the problem.
Safety needs an upgrade.
Seattle has one good corner (Trufant) and one very good nickle (Wilson).
Whoever calls the shots in 2010 will have more holes than draft picks. Seattle needs to make a splash in free agency.
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There’s a few players whose hearts I won’t quetion from today: Ray Willis, Justin Forsett, Will Herring (he was riled up a few times on the sidelines and seemed to have quite a few conversations with various players about things… he was into it, in a good way… and, heck, he’s only a special teamer at this point), Matt Hasselbeck, John Carlson, and Colin Cole (I was impressed with him, although I will admit he’s not a star). Cole has a bit of a spark that many of us seem to complain that the team lacks. And Julius Jones was very positive, in a good way, in street clothes. That was just from one sampling of watching the bench almost as much as the game. And I couldn’t see the defensive players as easily, so there would/could/should/probably be more on that side of the ball (I assume I’d be putting Hawthorne in this category if I would have seen the DL/LB/DBs more). I just didn’t observe them as much.
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If we assume that the Seahawks will be getting rid of Deon Grant, Patrick Kerney, Walter Jones (retirement), Nate Burleson (Free Agency), and Houshmandzadeh, then the Seahawks will have about 33.8 million under the cap. Let’s just see how it goes.
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While I think TJ/Burleson is a very good duo of starting WRs… when I compared their routes today to what Sydney Rice and Percy Harvin were running it’s amazing at how quicker those two guys are in and out of their cuts than our guys. Still, WR is not our problem. It’s the OL. We don’t need to replace all 5 (maybe we do position wise?), but we do need an infusion of some serious talent in the spots we do replace. I wish I knew our cap situation.
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2620 – I don’t think Burleson will be a FA after this season? I think it’s after next season?
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Hope everyone is telling the team exactly what we think. Have been a season ticket holder for the past 10 seasons and have never been so upset. It’s not just the losses, it’s the way we’re losing. I am not a bandwagon or fair weather fan, sitting through the awful seasons (both weather and play) at Husky stadium and not even once leaving early. BUT my patience is wearing thin. If there are no moves made in the front office, I will seriously reconsider re-upping for next year. Ruskell needs to go and so does Mora. Voice your opinion here:
http://legacy.seahawks.com/FeedbackPopup.aspx
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Is anyone even listening to Jr. anymore?
We’ve seen the last two weeks what this staff canl do with a healthy team. There’s no reason to believe that it will be any different if they’re given another year.
Hass has happy feet and inaccuracy early AGAIN-
Hass curls up in the fetal position on all up the middle blitzes AGAIN-
Why do we only stretch the field on offense when we HAVE to?-
I’m glad Trufant came back from injury to remind me of how overrated he is-
Keep Wilson, scrap rest of secondary-
None of this coaching staff or the GM has done ANYTHING worth keeping their jobs. I don’t want to have to suffer this crap for a THIRD year.
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oceanic – You hit on the general problem with Ruskell as GM. He’s at his best when acquiring complimentary players to an already established core, as was the case in ’05. But as that core retires or leaves in FA or become injured, he is required to manage a roster in a way that he is ill suited for. This team is a perfect example of that. This is a team now comprised of just that, complimentary players with a terrible neglected core. On D, there are but maybe two, Mebane and Lofa (and maybe Curry in seasons to come) to build around and that is not enough to compete with teams that have a strong core. Tapp, Wilson, Hill, Trufant, these are very nice players but will only excel as much as the better the players are around them perform. And there are no better players around them with the exception of Mebane and Lofa. One of which is on the IR. Ruskell is not capable of building a competitive team, only maintaining one for a period of time. He must be replaced. Must.
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bulldog – I thought the players responded to Mora on the sidelines today. There was nothing from their actions that their coach had lost them. And I was watching for little things like that. Mare didn’t ever stand to close to him though:)
The Vikings D has made most QBs look like Hass did today. But I don’t know what Matt is supposed to do without a offensive line? There’s no running game, and that makes it even harder in the passing game.
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BobbyK – Nate’s contract runs through ’10, but it is a voidable year. So technically he’ll not be a FA until ’11 but they can void next year if they want.
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I’d be happy to give a pass on this game if it was an aberration. The truth is, it’s been a loooong time since he’s put up a gritty performance in a tight game and actually pulled one out.
I’m not trying to put it all on Matt here, but this team’s performance is a mess. Everyone on this team, yes including Matt, should be held “accountable”. Isn’t that the term that Jr. likes to throw around?
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Trufant has not looked like himself at all since the injury.
Why can’t we finda Sidney Rice in the low rounds of the draft? He looked better than any of our receivers.
I think Oceanic’s notes are right – I’d probably lose Branch though – he’s shown me zero this year, and I’d rather give Butler a shot as the #3.
Our lines are the issue – I’d been hoping we only needed to fix one this off-season.
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You know…Curry is an interesting question this year. We draft the guy who is supposed to be, by all accounts, the most talented player in the draft. He starts out pretty well in his rookie season then disappears…do you blame him or the coaching? At this point, I would give him the benefit of the doubt and point to the coaching or lack thereof. Coaching and especially bad coaching can make or break young players….stay tuned.
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Maybe this should be the rule…..always use high draft choices on impact players that are just not found in later rounds. We drafted Curry instead of a DT or RB. We have Lofa, Hill, and Hawthorne who were found in 2nd and later…why wasted a #4 in the first on a LB when we can clearly find talented LBs in later rounds? Get the huge monster tackles who you just can’t find later…that should be the rule.
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I know exactly what you’re saying, I just don’t know what can do when he doesn’t get much of a chance to do it.
So much of sports is also confidence. There have been plays where he’s had time to throw, but Matt has had “happy feet.” And Matt needs to be “accountable” for the times he’s had WRs open and missed them. That is “unacceptable.”
However, even thought he had ample protection on that particular play, the affects of being used to getting pressured make him have the happy feet.
But if he’s used to having ample time in the pocket, you won’t see the happy feet very often. That’s what confidence does (or confidence in your line to give you time on a regular basis).
If anyone has ever played baseball, it’s like going 7 for your last 10 (including a HR your last at bat). When you go up to bat that 11th time, you feel pretty damn good.
Well, thanks to Matt’s offensive line, it’s like Matt has gotten zero hits in his previous 10 at bats. By the time he’s on at bat #11, he has confidence problems, he’s pressing, and he’s more apt to whiff on a fastball right down the middle because he’s so screwed up in the head. Hope that makes sense. That’s my take on the situation concerning Matt and being nervous in the pocket.
Duke – thanks for the Nate contract clarification. I thought it was something like that.
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Audible – For me it’s the coaching. There are at times he looks confused and uncertain. Without knowing exactly what his assignments are, it doesn’t seem as though he knows where he is supposed to be. That’s coaching, to me. He can play, obviously. He wouldn’t have gotten to where he is if he couldn’t. He’s played his best with Lofa in. He really seems to help Curry, either understand what to do on a given play or frees him up to be more aggressive because of his own play. Lofa is one of those cornerstone players that I was talking about earlier, that is in short supply on the ‘Hawks. He makes those around him better.
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The fact Matt is playing at the level he is, with the lack of protection he’s getting, either through the lack of run support or quite literal protection from defenders, is amazing to me. He has taken a beating this year and continues to perform at a high level. I thought he played very well again today.
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The O-line problems were easy to forsee when Max Unger was the only guy added to it in the off season. Trying to rely on a 35 year old left tackle to be ready to play after microfracture surgery was the height of stupidity. Spencer, Sims and Wrotto had already demonstrated their lack of ability. Locklear was the only guy who really belonged starting, and he is a right side only tackle. And the rest of that motley crew…ugh. This was a cinch to happen. Willis is a guard playing out of position in my view, this guy just cannot pass block on the edge. Jackson has once again become invisible after a promising start, Kearney has been invisible all season, and happy happy joy joy Cory Redding got his first sack of the season today. Colin Cole was never supposed to be a star, just a big space eater to clog up run lanes, and has not been what I’d hoped when we signed him (and I did like the signing, as much as I criticise Ruskell’s FA acquisitions). Curry has been a colossal flop in my opinion, 4th overall pick with more guaranteed money than anyone but the 1st overall pick, and he’s invisible as well most of the time, and out of position other times, and outplayed by an undrafted free agent.
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Understand what you’re saying too Bobby. you may be right and like I said I’m not trying to steer all of the blame at Matt. He’s obviously our best option right now. I just soooo badly want to see him, despite all of the other bs, just put the offense on his shoulders and pull out a win. That is the what true leader qb’s do. Maybe my standards are too mugh for Matt.
Can anyone give me a single “light at the end of the tunnel” as it relates to this coaching staff? I have absolutely lost all confidence in everyone of them. We suck in all three phases, badly.
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I agree, Duke. Matt is the least of our problems. But if he’s “protected” like this for another year, he’ll be so beat up it’ll be the end of him. It’s unfortunate that all of us were complaining about OL last year at this exact time and nothing really changed (although I do like Unger). Last year, and this year — the fans are crying this is priority #1… I hope people in the FO, whoever they may be, realize something MUST be done SOON…
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How many people think Jim Mora Jr is worth staying next year? I am for one don’t think the guy deserve another chance as when he work with our CB he didnt make them any better than what they are now and the guys seem to have passion for coaching but to call out your team and to hold the accountable is good but when is it time to hold yourself and your coaching staff accountable as someone sure didn’t watch alot of film on how to block Allen, The Williams and protect the darn QB and to play Defensive.
Week one against rams score 28 and hold them to 0 but it st. louis
Week 2 lost 10- 23 against 49ers which is 13 point different
Week 3 19-25 lost against chicago 6 point different
week 4 17- 34 lost against Colts 17 point different
week 5 41-0 won against Jaguars no contest like rams
week 6 3-27 lost against Arizona 24 point different
week 8 17-38 lost against Dallas 21 point different
week 9 32-20 won against detroit
week 10 20-31 lost against arizona 11 point different
week 11 9- 35 lost against minnesota 26 point different
How much of the blame goes on coaches and the players and don’t used Injuries as excuss because football is tough sport and players get injuries but if Jim Mora Jr want to hold players accountable than, he should hold his coaches to higher accountable as if their giving up so much point on defensive and this defensive supose to be good one than it time to start getting rid of the bad apples…
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Unger is a prime example. I like him so don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say but he’s a complimentary player. He’s not a cornerstone piece to the future of the line. He’ll be this team’s center for years to come and a good one. But he’s not someone you build around like Hutch or Walt were. If you were to start an o line from scratch, you’d be hard pressed to start on around any of their current players and yet this is what needs to happen. Get Unger some support for the future so he can reach his potential.
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You know if you read those quotes again it seems Jr. is just being honest. He’s saying that they’ve tried everything and they still suck. That means to me that basically there is nothing else this staff can do or even try to do to help. He’s already hit the end of his instruction manual. I wonder how long it will be until he realizes that he and the GM may in fact be “the hump”.
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“…instruction manual” lol, that’s funny. It’s true though. I had a similar thought while reading and listening to him. I want Mora to succeed, we all do and it’s real easy to pick apart what he says right now. Hell, I do it. But honestly, what’s he going to say, the play on the field says it all too painfully well.
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I remember the exact posts about Holmgren as the losses mounted up last year. People got sick of the same old thing of “we need to roll our sleeves up and fix” this or that. If I were a HC, I don’t know if I could premeditate anything better to say than what Mora is already saying.
I know exactly what you mean, Duke (re: Unger). Curry was supposed to be that cornerstone player, but I’ve only seen flashes of it… and I’m not seeing the improvement (Lofa injury noted) we should be seeing. He seemed to be spending time on the sidelines in various situations today. And Carlson was on the sidelines too often as well. That’s on the coaches. You need your best players on the field. And Carlson is one of the top few offensive players we have (on an offense that is very “talent” challenged).
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Suh is a cornerstone player. That’d be a great start. And I don’t care about trading up to get him, nor the rookie contract thing. My only concern is that we cannot afford to trade extra premium picks. For example, I do not support trading our #1 and #2 to move up to get him. But I do support us trading both of our #1 picks to move up as long as the team we’re dealing with parts with their early second round pick in the deal. Again, this would be dictated by how high our picks and things like that.
As much as I like Brian Bulaga, Mike Johnson, and CJ Spiller on offense, I only see them as these type of good “complimentary” guys. Spiller b/c he won’t be a 20 carry per game type of back. I guess that’s where a player like Okung may fit in (although I haven’t seen enough of him for myself to know if he’s that type of LT).
As sold as I was on Moreno/Oher last year, I’m even more sold on Suh this year. He’s a player who will make everybody around him better. That’s what we need.
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As has been mentioned by a few posters, you never draft a LB in the top five. NEVER!! We passed on Oher, A. Smith E. Monroe, Sanchez and other players who play more important positions and who have been contributing at a higher level than Curry. Also notice that the USC LBs are playing better than Curry is. While I am happy that Curry is on our team and believe he can be a Pro Bowl LB, it shows how inept we are at building a team from the core up. Time for Ruskell to go and to bring in a PROVEN talent at GM. Mora can stay but that would be up to the next GM. WE NEED TO ARREST THIS DEATH SPIRAL BEFORE WE BECOME A LEAGUE JOKE (again.)
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Personally, I would take Curry over E.Monroe or A.Smith. Even though Curry isn’t what we hoped for, the athleticsm is. Monroe is who I thought he was. Less than stellar. I don’t see him as a cornerstone player for the Jags. He may turn out okay (ie better than I thought he’d be) but I don’t see him making multiple Pro Bowls. Unger is to the ‘Hawks as Monroe is to the Jags (although Monroe plays a more important LT position). And Unger makes less.
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If the season ended today, we would pick between 5-10.
The Bronco pick would be between 19-24.
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The Broncos are in a spiral….I was hoping that would happen. At least it gives us something to root for this year.
How do you justify drafting Curry at #4 when we were already well stocked at that position. You don’t need to draft Linebackers that high and we already had a disproportionate amount of payroll wrapped up at that position.
We signed Housh…but then traded up to get Butler. Now, Butler may be a good player down the road, but we were hurting on both the OL and DL and ignored those positions, instread drafting Unger to replace Spencer…but then put Unger in at Guard instead of Center.
We could have traded up to get one of the tackles or traded down (or up) to pick up to pick up the top DT.
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Audible – I actually agree with you. I can’t justify taking Curry. My only point in saying I’m glad we have him over Monroe/Smith is that I think Curry will make a better pro than either of them (and I thought it on draft day too). The records in this blog archive clearly shows that I wanted a RB (Moreno) or LT (Oher) with the #4 pick. Part of it was because I didn’t feel like we needed another LB and part of it was that I just loved Moreno/Oher (regardless of their position).
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The 2008 team was so much better than this team. And that team had 10x the injury problems this team has. This team has been fairly healthy for the last several weeks and was down by 17 at home against Detroit and lost by double digits the last 2 games.
Last year the Seahawks played quality teams close. In the final 8 games, they faced just 1 team with a losing record and were in all the games but the Cowboys game until the end.
At Miami (11-5), lost by 2 with chance to win at end
vs Arizona (9-7), lost by 5 with chance to win at end
vs Wash (8-8), lost by 3 with chance to win at end
at Dallas (9-7), blown out
vs NE (11-5), lost by 3 with chance to win at end
vs STL (2-14), win
vs NYJ (9-7), win
at Arizona (9-7), down by just 7 in 4th quarter but lost by 13, similar to this year
For the last 5 games, the team was missing Walter Jones, Chris Spencer, Rob SIms and Sean Locklear (2 games). They were also down to 3rd stringers (Kyle Williams and Goddard). Yet, the games were close and exciting.
What happened?
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bobbyk, have you ever thought that maybe there was denial about walter jones growing older?
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I like the Curry pick but I would have love to have another 1st round pick in the 09 draft as would been awsome to get Michael Oher and everybody knew Walter Jones time was coming up with his surgery and not many players coming back 100 percent mean that Hawks should have had back up plan and that should have been Michael Oher or Eugene M.
Sean Locklear isn’t LT I would count to build the OL round of and neither is Ray Willis as both are good complimary but you need someone who can actuality protect your QB like one of these young guys who came out in 09 draft. Walter Jones was getting older, Locklear has injuries problem, Willis may have not got it by now.
It time for complete rebuilding on both Offensive side and Defensive side and if it was me than draft OL and tell him that his job is protect the QB. Get a shut down CB and release Deon Grant as need someone who can tackle not a guy who going to push him down, upgrade Defensive End and cut Kerney.
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The difference between last year and this year is; we had a hall of famer coach which made the team competitive even with all the injuries we had last year. Did you honestly thought you can replace Holmgren with Mora and the team would not drop in performance?
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This team is in serious need of a front office overhaul. How do you allow a team that went to the Super bowl just 4 seasons ago to a laughing stock in that amount of time? Paul Allen may be sick but he still has class and wants a winner, not to spend millions on a joke of a franchise, look what he has done for the trailblazers, and it started with replacing the old GM with a good one so don’t think he doesn’t have a plan in place and that Tim Ruskell will be making those first round picks at next years draft.
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I thought Mora would be better for ’10 than Holmgren. I know Holmgren is the better coach… but sometimes, in the short term, change is good. I really thought (hoped hard) we’d be much better this year.
I wonder what type of cap savings the following would bring: Grant, Kerney, Hill, Lock, Branch, J.Jones, and W.Jones would bring? Not that I advocate releasing Lock or anything. I know Hill is better than Herring, but Herring at a million bucks is a much better value than Hill at $6 million.
I wanted to be in denial about Walt. I still hope he comes back next year (know it probably won’t happen).
I’m watching the Eagles/Bears and McNabb hit Jackson on a bomb. It got me to thinking about our team. There’s no way we could do that. Chris Collinsworth (liked as a player, not as an announcer) pointed out that McNabb had 4 full seconds for Jackson to get by both safety coverage before throwing. Matt doesn’t even get half that time.
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Thats what I liked about Holmgren, he knew that games where won in the trenches, he built a line around the best LT of all time and they all complimented one another, this thing we have now couldn’t block a collage D line, let alone a pro.
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Cnt blame mora its his first year!!! Cut branch , replace willis he a good back up! Put lock back at right guard! Draft or find via free agency a great left guard! Let spencer go and let unger play that position! Get butler on the field the kid is good! Trade senmeca wallace or use him better receiver etc… He’s no QB in the nfl sorry!! Defense run a 3 s defense use our strongest points our linebackers get a hard knock defensive coach! A la dick lebeau. Let kerney go. Replace babineau! Put jennings on a serious weight program the guy is a good nickel DB better than babineaux, trade trufant this guy is extremely over rated and really did not deserve the money we gave him!! This guy clearly robed us and I dnt know why no one says it!! Grand is not the problem at all! I do think we should get a stud safety but we need a stud shut down corner first! Look and how jenkins the rookie with dallas plays way better than trufant! Come on in his first season!! Its like seattle is the place to cme get free money! I’m not shure about knapp or bradley as coaches no more!!! And play carlston he’s good that’s why we need a better line we are wasting his talent up there blockin on the line and let’s get owen shidcht on the feel already we have some good young players by the way forsett and rankin is the gut who should play let jones go next year! And I dnt think bringing back holmgram is the answer! The guy has a old approach to the game very conservative laid back and does not attack enough lacks that aggresive nature!! How quick we forget how many mistakes and things with the play calling etc…. That drove us crazy when he was coaching very predictable!!!! You remember??!!!!
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preach on bornhawk preach on Ruskell got to go
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Bring back Chuck Knox.. I want to see ground chuck type offense. Chew up the clock. Build solid lines.. Knock the tar out of the guy in front of you.
Lord have mercy this team really sucks.. I am sorry, but roll the dice, and get a GM, and new coaching staff.
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You can blame the coach as further down it his System that not cutting it in NFL.
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Ruskell must go!. What else can ya say. BLUE PANTS! REALLY IS THAT IT…DAMN!!!!!!!!!!
I personally think Mora has lost most of this team. 4 yards rushing how pathetic is that. Bradley and Knapp wouldn’t make a pimple on Holmgrens butt. I’m not saying I want Holmgren’s offence back. However I am saying we deserve Coaches with his NFL Savoy. What I witness today was the tip of the Ruskell iceberg. He is doing to us what Matt Millen did to Detroit.
RUSKELL GET OUT OF TOWN.
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I think our basic system on defense would be perfectly fine if we could have brought home Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. All everyone would talk about, if we added those two players, is how Bradley was a good hire and we like him as our DC. I’m not going to say I’ve been overly happy with our defensive staff (more happy with them than Knapp though) but they would certainly look a lot better if they actually had more than 1 legit NFL player on the DL.
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Oh please let this come true: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/11/22/ruskells-contract-fuels-holmgren-to-seattle-rumors/
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You may be right about that too, but that’s like saying how good knapp would look like if we had Hutch and Adrian Petersen. if, if, if. You know the old addage, if your aunt had bullocks she’d be your uncle. The truth for these hacks is just what Bill Parcels said, ” You are what your record says you are”.
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For all the people screaming to fire GM Ruskell I have two questions:
1) Who would you hire, and why? (and Mike Holmgren doesn’t count as an answer since he was fired from his Seahawks GM job and is not likely to be hired here again, and his mythical return has been talked to death). So what proven NFL pro or young up-and-comer will be available to be hired as GM and build a new staff of scouts and personnel directors? And what’s the evidence they will do a better job?
2) If Ruskell does get fired, who among his staff of scouts and personnel pros are likely to leave with him (when he inevitably gets hired by another NFL team)? Which people on his staff are most important not to lose? Who among them, for instance, has been scouting O linemen and QBs all year. Are you prepared lose those guys and why?
At this point there are no wrong answers. But Paul Allen and Todd Leiweke need to know the right answers to all those questions before they can consider firing Ruskell.
Anyone can scream for somebody to be fired. I’m not saying you are wrong, but how about coming with some info to bring to the table.
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I’m sure there are several execs that I’d want to interview but a good starting point for me would be:
1. Holmgren – CFO
2. Randy Mueller – GM
3. Shanahan – Head Coach
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Ruskell=Bavasi
Leiweke=Armstrong
Mora=McClaren/Riggleman
Change is good. Please Mr. Allen, do it.
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bulldog, I like it. I’m not so sure I like Shanahan but its good to see some actual ideas on here.
p.s. and I should have said Holmy isn’t likely to be hired. I don’t know that. Its just been talked to death and I’d like to hear about some other possibilities from people who know.
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I don’t see why anyone WOULDN’T want Holmgren. He was hailed as an offensive genius, he drafted offense, and even when the Seahawks were struggling, they always had an elite offense.
Ruskell’s calling card is that he allegedly helped construct Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl defense. He’s come here, been given FULL REIGN to draft whatever the hell he wants and sign anyone he likes, and we still have one of the NFL’s worst defenses. Don’t let the numbers deceive you, they just benefited from some lopsided wins against the Rams and Jaguars.
And in the process of creating this steaming pile of crap defense, he’s sucked the soul out of the offense.
HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED RIGHT AFTER HUTCH
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“You know…Curry is an interesting question this year. We draft the guy who is supposed to be, by all accounts, the most talented player in the draft. He starts out pretty well in his rookie season then disappears…do you blame him or the coaching? At this point, I would give him the benefit of the doubt and point to the coaching or lack thereof. Coaching and especially bad coaching can make or break young players….stay tuned.”
Yeah, it definitely feels true now. If we had a do-over, I’d probably take Oher. Maybe it’s the injury – but Locklear has looked weak to me in the two games he’s been back. As another poster put it, our O-line is a train wreck.
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CFO: Holmgren
GM: Scott Pioli
Head coach: Shanahan
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Stevos:
Here is my opinion:
1) GM: Ron Hughes, Current College Scouting Coordinator since 2003. Let me give you his background. He served as the college scouting dept in 1982. 1984, he was promoted to Director of Pro Personnel of the Lions. 1990, he was promoted to Director of Player Personnel of the Lions. 1996, he was named the VP of Player Personnel (or GM). Then he was swept aside from Matt Millen in 2001. He was hired as a draft consultant for the Steelers in 2001. Then was offered his current position in 2003.
He made a big splash with drafting Barry Sanders in 1989, although he wasn’t the “chief” GM.
Hughes has been around in the league for awhile and if he comes from a winning team – the Steelers (ughhh, who I hate as well), he can bring a lot to the table. He knows his scouting – Look at the players who are making an impact for the Steelers.
2) I would want the whole personnel team to be squashed. This personnel team was built for a fast/cover 2 defense.
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I’m off the wagon for a West Coast Offense and Cover 2/Zone Defense. These schemes have become obsolete. The successful WCO has migrated into a Vertical WCO (look at Philly and Minn, Indy). All the current WCO trees don’t have a job (Gruden, Shanahan, Jauron, Holmgren, Mooch, etc.)
It’s time for a change. Give me a team that is feared, that controls the clock and runs a SMASHMOUTH/Vertical scheme.
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FireRuskellNow says: “I don’t see why anyone WOULDN’T want Holmgren.”
Fire, personally, I’d love Holmgren to be the guy who selects our next QB. I’d love to have him as the QB Coach or Offensive Coordinator. But I’m pretty certain he doesn’t want that.
Holmgren as GM? Remember what happened last time: Four drafts and every defensive player Holmgren selected was a BUST, except for Ken Lucas and Rocky Bernard. After four years as Coach and GM, Holmgren’s defense in 2002 was a worse unit than either our defensive or offensive units are today. Holmy did a terrible job as GM with the D and the GM job had to be taken away from him and the whole defense had to be rebuilt.
Holmy was a great offensive coach, a poor GM.
But the guy sure could develop QBs. No doubt about that. He’s a genius in that area. (though remember that even Holmy whiffed on his only high draft pick QB in Seattle – Brock Huard)
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hawkdog206: “I’m off the wagon for a West Coast Offense and Cover 2/Zone Defense”
I hear ya! I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, I’d love to see a 3-4 defense with a big 350 NT installed here (Terrence Cody?). I want to see Curry and Tapp rushing the QB from stand-up OLB positions and scaring QBs. I want to see four LBs on the field since that’s the talent Ruskell has drafted. And I’d like to see a running back with power for a change.
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Any defense can be productive if they have the talent. Put Freeney and Wilfork on our DL and all of a sudden Gus Bradley looks smart.
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No to Randy Mueller. He’s been fired twice already by other franchises (Saints and Dolphins.) He’s a checkbook GM that overspends and gets teams into cap trouble (including Seattle when he was here.)
If Liewieke = Armstrong, Armstrong didn’t do so badly last year. He helped hire a good coach and (against popular opinion) held onto Washburn, which turned out to be a good idea for the Mariners. Lashing out at a guy like this is like a a child throwing a tantrum – just trying to take out frustration on someone regardless of their actual blame.
Pioli already has a GM job (1st year.) I hear Parcells might be looking for a new gig now that he thinks he may have righted the Dolphins ship.
I have defended Ruskell a lot on the past because of the above, and will continue to do so on specific points.
But now it’s pretty clear it’s not injuries or circumstance. It’s coaching and/or talent. And, as Ruskell is now personally responsible for both, the buck has to stop there.
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I wonder if Ruskell’s ego could handle the same kind of reduction of duties that Holmgren had. I.e. extend Ruskell’s contract but as GM only, then hire Holmgren as our Tuna (President of Football Operations) we get Holmgren back and in the increased capacity that he’s looking for and then we let Ruskell draft D and Holmy the O.
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Tampa won SB 02 and it 09 which mean Russell it been 7yrs since Russell built a team to go back to SB and that doesn’t count Seahawks because most of guys on hawks were when Holmgren was in charge.
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